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Commonwealth Defence Authority
See also: The Commonwealth of Bentus '' The '''Commonwealth Defence Authority '(CDA) are the armed forces of the Commonwealth of Bentus and is officially mandated with its defence and the preservation of its security. The Supreme-Commander of the CDA is the President of the Commonwealth, although the organization has been granted significant independence. This has shown recent signs of changing, with the recent Liberal-Green coalition parliament passing through a number of laws limiting the autonomy and powers of the CDA. The CDA is also in charge of all of the Commonwealth's Weapons of Mass Destruction and War Gates, even those which are maintained and managed within the militaries of member-states. History The International Common Security Authority and the Gateway Wars Founded following the First Gateway War, the CDA was initially created as the International Common Security Authority. Lacking its own armed forces, the ICSA was formed as a single overarching authority to monitor and regulate the use of WMDs and Gateways by the nations of Bentus. At this point in time however, the ICSA was purely an overseeing body, with the member-states still firmly in control of their weapons. Many point to this limitation of the power of the ICSA as one of the key factors contributing to the outbreak of the Second Gateway War not a decade following the first. Largely seen as a continuation of the inconclusive First Gateway War, the Second Gateway War was the first conflict in Bentusi history where the colonies became seriously contested battlegrounds and indeed a theater in themselves rather than mere footnotes. The ICSA found itself powerless to prevent the rapid escalation of hositilities between the nations as Benus fought its first interstellar war, with its diplomatic protests largely ignored by the member-states. That is however, the tragedy of New Florida where the Gateway was destroyed in intense fighting, cutting off the colony from the homeworld. With warring nations swiftly pointing the finger of blame at one another, it fell upon the ICSA to organize a relief effort and in deed the famed New Florida Ceasefire. Mobilising the resources of the entire planet, the ICSA was able to reconnect the ailing colony to the Gate Network in an unprecedented time frame, in spite of the continued suspicion between the technically still-warring nations. Unfortunately, the death toll still was unimagineable and many believe that the fighting had resumed even before the new gateway had been openned. The Second Gateway War eventually came to a close with the openning of the first Wargate by the Union and the surrender of the Axis forces, thus setting the stage for the devastating Third Gateway War. The Third Gateway War between the Union of Federated States and Armenia followed swiftly on from the Second, with the Union choosing to capitalise on the advantage that the Wargate represented and striking at its former ally. Armenia's colonies fell quickly, unable to defend against the new weapon, and the country found itself isolated after 10 months of war. During this time, the ICSA had worked to keep other nations from entering the conflict - limiting it to the two Superpowers. Many hoped that the Union would swiftly defeat Armenia, thus allowing finally for a period of peace, but all these were dashed when Armenia openned their first Wargate and launched the first counter-attack against the Union. The Union's forces found themselves pushed back from many of Armenia's former colonies, and soon the full weight of an interstellar empire was being poured into Armenia's war effort once again. As the war rumbled on, its effects were being felt dramatically on the rest of Bentus, with the planet entering the worst depression in its history and famine devastating millions. It was in this environment that the other nations of Bentus had begun to join together to survive in the shadow of the warring Superpowers, and the ICSA seemed to be the perfect forum. One of the many treaties passed under the ICSA involved the consolidation of the disparate armed forces under a joint-command to increase co-operation and ostensibly to help cut down on the costs of security. As the work of the ICSA gradually lead to the isolation of the Union and Aremnia, protests and rallies began to pop up in international capitals, urging their governments to action. A growing international consensus had begun to emerge; that if the Superpowers were incapable of ending the conflict between themselves, then perhaps it was the duty of the rest of Bentus to intervene. Ultimately it was the ICSA that chanelled this global discontent into action with the passing of the Wargate Inclusion Act. The act declared that Wargates, as Gateways were under its jurisdiction and therefore to its authority. This was swiftly followed by demands to both Armenia and the Union to cease and desist their use of Wargates in their ongoing war. Unable to resist against what was practically a military alliance between the majority of nations on Bentus, the Union and the Armenians complied and had their Wargates occupied by ICSA forces. What folowed was a gradual de-escalation of the conflict as Armenia, unable to maintain its holdings against the technologically superior Union began to suffer internal unrest as the economy continued to worsten. This culminated in the Union-backed Soviet revolution that lead to the cessation of hostilities and eventually the founding of the United Soviet States of Armenia. The Treaty of Bentus The Treaty of Bentus finally brought the Gateway Wars to a close with the official creation of the Commonwealth Parliament, as well as the Commonwealth of Bentus as a supranational state from the links built via the forum the ICSA provided. The ICSA itself was rechristenned as the Commonwealth Defence Authority, and placed under the command of the President of the Commonwealth. The CDA initially was planned to take on the pre-existing mandates of the ICSA and only an organizational role in terms of a military force. However, Bentus was becoming more and more aware by this point of its presence amidst a galactic neighbourhood, as well as its severe vulnerabilitiy. As such, the CDA was expanded at the last minute to include the defence and security of the Commonwealth and given direct control over its own, international military force. Sections The Commonwealth Defence Navy (FLEETCOM) The Commonwealth Army (GROUNDCOM) The Commonwealth Airforce (AIRCOM) CDA Strategic Weapons Command (STRATCOM) The Sabre Program (WIP)